Cheese Stuffed Meatballs

I have been craving pasta something fierce. We tried a new-ish Italian spot, Carpaccio Trattoria, this weekend. It’s a breath of fresh Italian air. Seriously, this stuff tastes just like a lot of the stuff I tasted in Italy. It helps that the head chef/owner is from Venice, spending a lot of time cooking up the delicious things I’ve come to know and love when it comes to cheese, tomatoes and bread. He’s heavy on the seafood and on the risotto. Swoon.

Is it wrong that I’m posting meatballs twice in less than two weeks? These are way more labor intensive than the last ones, less healthy, too. But they have cheese in them! That makes it totally worth it.

Sometimes I like to make things way more difficult than they need to be because I’m “following directions.” That kind of thing they teach you in grade school can backfire so easily.

The idea is simple, stuff a meatball full of shredded cheese and prosciutto, sear them on in some oil, braise them with some olives and peppers, and ladle that goodness all over some pasta. I hid a whole shredded carrot in the meatballs. I managed to mangle my pinky with the microplane. Carrots are slippery. True story. I doctored my finger up with a wad of paper towels and tape because I somehow ran out of bandaids and never noticed. Have you ever tried to roll meatballs with that kind of a bandage? It’s a challenge, and boy do I love a challenge.

Here’s where I made things way too difficult for myself, though. Shredding the cheese seemed really unnecessary when I was trying to wrap the meatballs around it. Maybe it was my pinky talking, but it really would have been easier if I cut little cubes of cheese. Oh the things we learn…

I also added a healthy dose of spinach to the olives and peppers. You wouldn’t expect anything less, right?

Next time, I’ll bring less meat and more cookies. Promise!

Inspiration: La Cucina Italiana

Ingredients

• 4oz cheese, preferably something mild and melty like Gruyere, cut into 12 equal cubes
• 2.25oz thick sliced prosciutto, cut into 12 equal pieces
• 1/3 cup parsley, plus more for topping
• 1.25lb ground beef
• 1 carrot, shredded
• salt
• pepper
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
• 1 bunch fresh spinach, rinsed
• pasta, quinoa, rice, bread for serving

Preparation

1. In a bowl, mix together the shredded carrot, ground beef, 1/3 cup parsley, and a pinch of salt and pepper.
2. Form the meat mixture into 12 equal balls. Feel free to eyeball it or break out your scale to measure them. I won’t tell which I did.
3. Flatten each ball with your palm, and place a piece of cheese and prosciutto in the middle before reforming the ball around it.
4. Place the meatballs into the fridge for 5ish minutes or until you’re ready to cook them.
5. Heat the olive oil and butter into a large skillet on medium high heat.
6. When the butter is melted, add the meatballs arranging them in the pan so they have room.
7. Brown them on all sides, turning them after about 2-3 minutes.
8. Add the pepper and olives to the pan, with another pinch of salt, and stir in with the meatballs.
9. Cover with a lid for another 5-6 minutes until the meatballs are cooked through and the pepper is cooked through.
10. Serve on your carb of choice, ladling that delicious sauce over as much of it as you can.